Ride Report Shimano Winter Series #2 (threads merged)

Anyone have footage of my digger? I guess I want to see it....

I'm gettin too old to hit the ground like that anymore! I couldn't have missed the epic dirt on Sunday though, even though I rode a bit stiff....haha.

See ya at the next one!

Big HOuse
 
Last edited by a moderator:
2wheel_lee said:
I finally got my new Black Market Riot together on Friday night, and took it for a spin around the neighborhood. I was a bit concerned because it started to feel a bit small. The Riot's I had test-ridden around at The Path were singlespeeds. My Riot had gears, and a shifter that my knee often found. Suited up in race gear on Saturday, I found that wearing knee pads further reduced knee clearance. I think I may need to upsize the 21.5" frame with the larger 22" frame - really small numbers for a 5'11" tall rider compared to the numbers XC guys are used to looking at.

I showed up at around 11:30 and registered. The weather was beautiful, and the water-down course looked awesome. The dirt couldn't have been nicer. I was glad I opted to run a smaller 2.1 Nevegal tire up front.

It was great to see Ricky, Brandon, and Jman out there practicing and racing. After seeing Ricky do a few runs I was a bit worried when I confirmed that he was racing in my same class (Sport). He was looking fast and smooth. All of his practice had showed. Because they don't have age divisions, the class had a wide range of ages (23ish for Ricky to 39 for me). Jason, who was riding the Foes 4X this week (a Heckler last race) is also fairly young. He, too, was looking good on the Foes. The 4th guy, who was riding a KHS Bitch may have been mis-classed. It was his first 4X race, although he said he was a BMX racers, so he figured that Sport was a good fit. He was greatly handicapped with his clipless pedals at the start. It was a bummer that Bob wasn't there with his new ride.

Speaking of the start, although we had seen photos of a concrete starting platform at the top area from Sharky in the middle of the week, nothing had been finished. The old wooden gate was just laying there next to the pad. We were to start one-footed like BMXers in the 70s. Obviously, 4X is on the back burner and low on the priority list for SRC. Nonetheless, the starting method was fair for all riders, and that's what really matters.

Although the dirt conditions were great, my 2.1 tire was a bit more slippery than I liked. Fortunately, I brought a 2.3 and swapped it out, minutes before they called the rider's meeting.

Unlike the previous event, this time, the rider's meeting was shortly after the Super D awards, and actually at a reasonable time. But once again, SRC had problems with registration, and they had to assign new numbers and handed out plates just before racing begain. It was fairly disorganized, and most people didn't really know what was going on. We all could have had more time to practice at this time, but we were all unclear when the actual start would begin.

Because there were only four of us in the class, we ran three motos, and the final result was determined by the lowest score based on each finishing position.

Before my first moto, I was in lala land. I didn't really feel like I was there to race. It was kind of odd. I wasn't pumped or anything. I felt like I walked out of a grocery store or something - my mind just didn't relate that I was there to race.

As far as the racing went for me, it was relatively non-eventful. As soon as we were finished with each moto, we had to head back to the start. And for the third moto, the gate was waiting for us, leaving us very little time to rest. Although the hike up the hill is tiring, thanks to Dino, Ricky and I had a break - Dino pushed BOTH of our bikes to the top. Thanks Dino! That really helped. If you ever want to help a 4X racer, pushing their bikes up really helps.

The rubberband starts are random, and after the starting que, the band can snap anywhere from 1 to 7 seconds. For the first two motos, I think he held us there for about 5 to 7 seconds, so I was expecting that for the third moto. So as I begain my mental count, he snapped the band. I think the starter caught us all sleeping! Despite my mental state of being somewhere else, I won all three motos from wire to wire, so to speak.

Ricky has a really good passing story that I heard about, and hopefully there are some photos, so I'm looking forward to seeing those.
Click to expand...

Awesome report, Lee! Good to hear you pinned it, bro! I thought you'd be more a longer TT guy. I was really looking forward to checkin' out your new rig!

I'm going to keep practicing those rubberband one-footed 70's BMX starts. :D And keep pushing my endurance levels...those between moto times get shorter and shorter!

See everyone in two weeks! :beer:
 
BigHOuse said:
I'm gettin too old to hit the ground like that anymore! I couldn't have missed the epic dirt on Sunday though, even though I rode a bit stiff....haha.

See ya at the next one!

Big HOuse
Click to expand...

I hear ya on that! That's why I'm reluctant to move up to expert. Those youngin's have no problem helping someone hit the ground. And your class is even worse!

I hope you feel better.
 
BigHOuse said:
Anyone have footage of my digger? I guess I want to see it....

I'm gettin too old to hit the ground like that anymore! I couldn't have missed the epic dirt on Sunday though, even though I rode a bit stiff....haha.

See ya at the next one!

Big HOuse
Click to expand...

Yeah, I heard about that one! Hope you heal up, bro and we'll see you at the next round!
 
allison said:
Can someone ask him to give some love to the expert women? I've never gotten a photo!
Click to expand...

Sorry again :(

I am usually up the hill early in the morning for the start of practice and I stay up there until I really really have to pee, which is usually around the E or F class. I'll try drinking less coffee next time.
 
heatherz said:
Sorry again :(

I am usually up the hill early in the morning for the start of practice and I stay up there until I really really have to pee, which is usually around the E or F class. I'll try drinking less coffee next time.
Click to expand...

Stay on the hill all day!! Geez!! [/sarcasm] Maybe next time! :)

Sweet photo of hubby in practice, though. I blame my lack of argyle... Tani! :wave:
 
lastimages.com has most of his photos up now.

248243268-L.jpg
 
Cool shot of you! There are some nice ones in each category.

No Sport Women photo category...:?: Wonder if it's coming later? Glad Sharky was there!
 
cbharping said:
Cool shot of you!

No Sport Women photo category...:?: Glad Sharky was there!
Click to expand...

Did you look through the Sport men category? Maybe he just forgot to split it up.

Justin wanted to send him an email, anyone have his contact info?
 
allison said:
Did you look through the Sport men category? Maybe he just forgot to split it up.

Justin wanted to send him an email, anyone have his contact info?
Click to expand...

Yeah, I thought that too so I checked beginner men and sport men just in case. Paulina and I are missing...
 
cbharping said:
Yeah, I thought that too so I checked beginner men and sport men just in case. Paulina and I are missing...
Click to expand...

I work with him, what's your race # and I'll see if he has it. and Paulina's #

I'll let him know about your guy's concerns with the flash, I didn't see him or the flash when I went by, he's still learning, just doing this for fun and to pay for his equipment.
:beer:
 
MOSH1DH said:
I work with him, what's your race # and I'll see if he has it.
I'll let him know about your guy's concerns with the flash, I didn't see him or the flash when I went by, he's still learning, just doing this for fun and to pay for his equipment.
:beer:
Click to expand...

Gotta learn somehow! Even if it's through doing ;) They're cool shots. We all appreciate the work that goes into the photography!
 
Jordansrealm said:
I hate seeing photogs using flashes for a shot like this. It helps light up the eyes a bit but something I would sacrifice to not blind the rider! :(
Click to expand...

I think a lot of it has to do with where the flash is placed. You see a lot of photos from WC races where the photographers are using up to 3 flashes and not blinding the riders.

There was a discussion about this on Ridemonkey a while back. Here's what one of the photographers had to say:

Originally Posted by TKCastle
Just a ? I would think all that flash would blind the riders. Do they have rules on how many flashes you can pop when a rider flys by. If not have you ever been confronted by riders because of it. Awsome photo, just awsome. Love the look of SH's eyes. The fox ad with the Yeti rider coming of the stairs at some urban race was my fovorite this year and this shot is up there with it.

Mike.
Click to expand...

They won't ever see the flashes if they are placed right, they have way more things going on to worry about.

An electronic flash goes off in 1 / 10 000th of a second. Unless it's exactly eye level, and focused out to their distance, in the pitch dark, and pretty damn close to them to boot, they won't even realize it went off.
Click to expand...

T2A2105.jpg



I believe Drew (PhotoTurbo) was using an off camera flash for the November race. I never even saw it.

E_FontanaNov07_PhotoTurbo.jpg


BTW, thanks to all the photographers that have braved the elements in Fontana this year. :beer:
 

Members online

Total: 111 (members: 1, guests: 110)
Robots: 30

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
63,928
Messages
979,884
Members
16,220
Latest member
Oldhaibiker
Back
Top